ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Science & Technology
Government Announces Hike in Research Fellowship
All Research Fellows Also Entitled to HRA as per Central Government Norms
With effect from January 1, 2019, Central Government has enhanced the fellowship of Ph.D students and other research personnel enrolled in any area of science and technology, including Physical and Chemical Sciences, Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Life Sciences, Pharmacy etc.
Congratulating research scholars, Union Science & Technology Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that Ph.D scholars, working in science and technology, are the most significant contributors to the knowledge base of the country for its industrial competitiveness, academic vibrancy and technology led innovations.Emphasizing on the commitment of the government Dr. Vardhan said that improving the value of Ph.D research cannot be a one-time exercise but requires constant input and efforts which the Government is fully committed to undertake.
The hike in fellowship will directly benefit over 60,000 Research Fellows and also provide a template to the States to consider increase in their fellowship rates. Fellowship of the Junior Research Fellows in the first two years of Ph.D programme is increased from the current rate of Rs.25,000/- to Rs.31,000/- per month. Similarly, in the remaining tenure of Ph.D, Senior Research Fellow will get Rs. 35,000/- per month instead of the present Rs.28,000/- per month.
Further, there is substantial 30-35% enhancement in the financial rewards for the scientists involved in the R&D projects as Research Associates.The top bracket of Research Associateship is fixed at Rs.54,000/-. All the research fellows are also entitled to HRA as per Central Government norms.
Government has ensured that this empowering mechanism is uniformly applicable across all the fellowship granting Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Academic and Government R&D Organizations of the country. Science & Technology is a fast moving area in which a dynamic and holistic vision is required to secure the future of the nation.
For the first time, the Government has also recommended a set of strong financial and academic incentives to enhance and recognize the performance of our research fellows. This will be a performance based addition to the fellowship. An Empowered Inter-Ministerial Committee has been constituted to periodically examine all the fellowship matters that have a bearing on enhancing the value, quality and experience of doctoral research, including the quantum of fellowship. One of the recommendations is to involve Ph.D students in undergraduate teaching and managing research infrastructure during their doctoral research.This will not only widen their scope of training but also enhance their career prospects.
PIB Headquarters
CMFRI teams up with ISRO to collect wetland data
Mobile app launched to generate centralised digital database of smaller wetlands
In a major attempt to protect coastal wetlands in the wake of climate crisis, a mobile app has been developed to collect the complete datasets on smaller wetlands across the coastal region of the country. The app was developed by the Space Applications Centre  of the ISRO upon the request of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute  in line with a memorandum of understanding between them.
The mobile app is aimed to generate a centralised digital database of the smaller wetlands  across the country. Such smaller wetlands cover an area of more than five lakh hectares across the country, while Kerala having as many as 2592 smaller wetlands. The app will be used to collect field level data of the wetlands that include geospatial profile, size, water and soil quality, farmed species, pollution status, illegal construction and other biodiversity specialities.
Researchers collecting data on a wetland in Puthuveypu using newly developed mobile app.
“The concept is to integrate field-level regional wetland data to geospatial datasets so as to enable comprehensive monitoring system in the wake of climate change and wetland vulnerabilities”, said CMFRI Director Dr A Gopalakrishnan during the launch of the mobile app on Monday. The app could become a game changer towards national wetland resilience through by bridging the gap between satellite and ground data, he said. “Continuous monitoring will help provide village-level real time advisories for aqua-farmers and alerts on climatic phenomenon in the future”, he said.
He also said that the climate related events such as floods and runoffs have changed the physio-chemical profile of several wetlands. “Many fish farmers and fishermen suffered economic loss due to washing away of cages, salinity changes in aquafarms, coastal ecosystem changes and so on. A digital common platform on health status of wetlands of the country may easily help to understand such vulnerable regions”, Dr Gopalakrishnan said.
The initiative of monitoring the wetlands is carried out by the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture  project wing of the CMFRI. The data collection using the mobile app will be done by registered researchers, farmers and stakeholders while the experts associated with the task will validate the data and will be stored in the central database.
Integration of aquaculture in regional wetlands could be made possible with a complete digital data set of the resources in the country, said Dr P U Zacharia, Principal Investigator of NICRA project of CMFRI.
The field-level data collection using the mobile app was also launched on Monday in Puthuveypu. Dr A P Dineshbabu, Dr P Kaladharan and Dr T V Sathianandan spoke on the occasion.
IE/BSN
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Prime Minister's Office
PM congratulates Deepak Punia for winning Silver medal in Men's Wrestling 86kg event at Asian Games 2022
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Deepak Punia for winning Silver medal in Men's Wrestling 86kg event at Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou.
The Prime Minister posted on X:
“What an incredible performance by Deepak Punia! Congrats on winning the Silver Medal in the Men's Wrestling 86kg event.
His dedication and spirit are truly inspiring and have led to this amazing performance.”
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s COVID19 Vaccination Coverage crosses the landmark of 28 cr
On a downward trajectory, India's Active Caseload further declines to 7,02,887
India reports 53,256 New Cases in the last 24 hours; lowest since 88 days
Daily Recoveries outnumber Daily New Cases for 39th consecutive day
Recovery Rate increases to 96.36%
Daily Positivity Rate stands at 3.83%,less than 5% positivity for 14 consecutive days
In a significant development, India’s cumulative vaccination coverage has exceeded 28 Crores yesterday. A total of 28,00,36,898vaccine doses have been administered through 38,24,408 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. 30,39,996vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
These include:
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,01,25,143
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
70,72,595
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,71,73,646
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
90,51,173
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
5,59,54,551
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
12,63,242
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
8,07,11,132
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,27,56,299
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
6,47,77,302
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
2,11,51,815
|
|
Total
|
|
28,00,36,898
The new phase of universalization of COVID19 vaccination commences from today. The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID19 Vaccination program was launched on 16th Jan 2021 by the Hon. Prime Minister.
India has reported 53,256daily new cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest since 88 days.India continues to report a sustained slide in the daily new COVID-19 cases.
Less than 1 lakh Daily New Caseshave been reported for 14 continuous days now. This is a result of sustained and collaborative efforts by the Centre and the States/UTs.
India has also been witnessing a continuous fall in the active caseload. The country’s Active Caseload today stands at 7,02,887today.
A net decline of 26,356is witnessed in the last 24 hours and active cases are now only 2.35% of the country's total Positive Cases.
As more people are getting recovered from COVID-19 infection, India’s Daily Recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for 39 consecutive days now. 78,190recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.
Nearly 25,000 more recoveries were reported during the last 24 hours as compared to the daily new cases.
Out of the people infected since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,88,44,199people have already recovered from COVID-19 and78,190patients have recovered in the last 24 hours. This constitutes an overall recovery rate of 96.36%, which is showing a sustained increasing trend.
With substantially ramped up testing capacity across the country, a total of 13,88,699 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours in the country. Cumulatively, India has conducted over 39.24 crore  tests so far.
While on one side testing has been enhanced across the country, a continued decline in weekly case positivity is noticed. Weekly Positivity Rate is currently at 3.32% while the Daily Positivity rate stands at 3.83% today. It has remained less than 5% for 14 consecutive days now.
Election Commission
Second Phase of General Elections-2019 on 18 April
95Lok Sabha Constituencies across 12 States and 1 UT to go to Polls in Second Phase
Over 15 crore 52 lakh and 49 thousand voters to decide fate of 1611 candidates
More than 1 lakh 76 thousand polling booths ready for smooth conduct of polls
PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES  VOTING ON PHASE-2 
|
|
State/UT
|
|
Number of Parliamentary Constituencies in Phase 2
|
|
Total Number of voters
|
|
Number of Male Voters
|
|
Number of Female Voters
|
|
Number of Voters of Third Gender
|
|
Number of
Contesting
Candidates
|
|
Number of Polling Booths
|
|
Assam
|
|
05
|
|
6910592
|
|
3554460
|
|
3355952
|
|
180
|
|
50
|
|
8992
|
|
Bihar
|
|
05
|
|
8552274
|
|
4492599
|
|
4059375
|
|
300
|
|
68
|
|
8644
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
03
|
|
4895719
|
|
2432554
|
|
2463102
|
|
63
|
|
36
|
|
6484
|
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
|
02
|
|
2960027
|
|
1543571
|
|
1416387
|
|
69
|
|
24
|
|
4426
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
14
|
|
26338277
|
|
13352234
|
|
12983284
|
|
2759
|
|
241
|
|
30410
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
10
|
|
18546036
|
|
9694373
|
|
8851390
|
|
273
|
|
179
|
|
20321
|
|
Manipur
|
|
01
|
|
928626
|
|
447843
|
|
480751
|
|
32
|
|
11
|
|
1300
|
|
Odisha
|
|
05
|
|
7693123
|
|
3945025
|
|
3747493
|
|
605
|
|
35
|
|
9117
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
38|
|
59869758
|
|
29594923
|
|
30269045
|
|
5790
|
|
822
|
|
67664
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
08
|
|
14076635
|
|
7583431
|
|
6492326
|
|
878
|
|
85
|
|
16162
|
|
West Bengal
|
|
03
|
|
4932346
|
|
2522887
|
|
2409372
|
|
87
|
|
42
|
|
5390
|
|
Puducherry
|
|
01
|
|
973161
|
|
459266
|
|
513799
|
|
96
|
|
18
|
|
970
|
|
Total
|
|
95|
|
155249472
|
|
78924522
|
|
76314031
|
|
11030
|
|
1611
|
|
176441
|
|
No of States/UTs in Phase 2
|
|
13Vellore Parliamentary Constituency seat polling, which was to be held on 18.04.2019, is deferredTripura East Parliamentary Constituency seat polling, which was to be held on 18.04.2019, is deferred
Prime Minister's Office
PM extends best wishes to all Chartered Accountants on CA Day
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has extended his best wishes to all Chartered Accountants on CA Day. Shri Modi has also shared a video in which he had expressed his views on the importance of Chartered Accountants in the field of Economics.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
"A Chartered Accountant has an important role in our economy. On CA Day, best wishes to all Chartered Accountants. May they keep working hard in furthering growth and transparency in the economy."
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
Control room for Status of Avian Influenza in the country
In view of the outbreaks of Avian Influenza in migratory birds, wild and domestic crow and poultry in certain States of the country, a control room has been set up in room no 190 A, KrishiBhawan  in Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying , New Delhi to strategies coordinate and facilitate State Government with regard to outbreak management, disease control and containment as envisaged in the Action Plan on Preparedness, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza, 2015.
Avian Influenza  viruses have been circulating worldwide for centuries with four known major outbreaks recorded in the last century. India notified the first outbreak of avian influenza in 2006. Infection in humans is not yet reported in India though the disease is zoonotic. There is no direct evidence that AI viruses can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated poultry products. Implementing management practices that incorporate bio security principles, personal hygiene, and cleaning and disinfection protocols, as well as cooking and processing standards, are effective means of controlling the spread of the AI viruses.
In India, the disease spreads mainly by migratory birds coming into India during winter months i.e. from September – October to February – March. The secondary spread by human handling  cannot be ruled out.
APS/MG
Ministry of Communications
Problem of call drops is more severe indoors, says DoT
Department of Telecommunications  has been taking various initiatives to address the problem of call drops in mobile networks. The Telecom Service Providers  have installed about 2,12,917 additional BTSs  across the country during the period from June 2016 to February 2017.
However, in order to obtain direct feedback from subscribers, DoT had launched an Integrated Voice Response System  system in Delhi, Mumbai, UP, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Goa on 23rd December 2016, which was extended to other states on 12th January 2017 except in Punjab and Manipur. IVRS system was launched in Punjab and Manipur on 16th March 2017. Through this system, subscribers receive an IVRS call from short code 1955 and are asked a few questions on the call drop problem. They can also send a toll-free SMS to the same short code 1955, containing the name of city/town/village, where they face frequent call drops.
Since the launch of the IVRS system on 23/12/2016 till 28/02/2017 16,61,640 successful outbound calls have been made to subscribers of all TSPs across the country. About 2,20,935 subscribers participated in the survey out of which, about 1,38,072  subscribers have reported call drops. From the feedback it has been observed that the problem of call drops is more severe indoors. The feedback is shared with the Telecom Service Providers every week for taking action in a time bound manner. The TSPs have set up an elaborate mechanism for using the IVRS feedback data sent by DoT.
TSPs are submitting action taken report  to DoT Task Force every fortnight. For the fortnight 15-28 Feb 2017, 43,403 feedback cases were taken up for investigation by TSPs. After telephonic calls and SMS to the subscribers to seek additional information on their call drop problem, 7,210 cases were identified for resolution. During the fortnight, 2467 cases were resolved through optimization, rectifying hardware/power problems, through field visits etc. and on cumulative basis, since launch of IVRS, 9,328 cases have been resolved through this initiative.
In addition, 5529 cases which were not related to call drop problem but other issues like problem related to data, roaming, billing, MNP, mobile device etc., were also identified by the TSPs for taking necessary action. About 603 new sites/boosters have also been planned by TSPs for installation in due course. DoT Task Force is also meeting with the TSPs once every month to discuss various issues related to the IVRS system. Regular reviews are also being held by the office of Hon’ble Minister about the operation of the IVRS system.
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Ministry of Heavy Industries
Ministry of Heavy Industries to celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava during the Iconic Week from 10th to 16th January 2022,
6 Mega Programs planned ; Focus is on the themes of Actions@75, Achievements@75, Ideas@75, Resolve@75 and Freedom Struggle
Events include Inaugurations, New Product launches, Technology Demonstrations, Technical Exhibitions, Seminars, Webinars, Expert Lectures, Yoga and Meditation sessions
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. As part of this initiative, Ministry of Heavy Industries is celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava, iconic week from 10th to 16th January 2022.
Ministry of Heavy Industries is focused on developing a globally competitive, green and technology-driven manufacturing sector including automotive and capital goods sector, which propels growth and job creation.
As part of the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava, Ministry of Heavy Industries in association with its CPSEs and Autonomous Bodies has planned series of events and activities across the country including at Haridwar, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Jhansi, Pune, Hyderabad etc during the iconic week. The events will take place at Automotive Research Association of India , Pune, Andrew Yule & Company Ltd. , Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. , Braithwaite Burn & Jessop Construction Co. Ltd. , Kolkata, Bridge & Roof Ltd. , Kolkata, Cement Corporation of India Ltd. , Central Manufacturing Institute of India , Bengaluru, Engineering Projects  Ltd. , Fluid Control Research Institute , Palakkad, Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd. , Hindustan Salts Ltd. / Sambar Salts Ltd.  etc.
The focus is on the themes of Actions@75, Achievements@75, Ideas@75, Resolve@75 and Freedom Struggle in areas of Innovation, Manufacturing Excellence, Atamanirbhar Bharat, Environment & Sustainability, Swachha Bharat, Swastha Bharat, Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle etc. The events include Inaugurations, New Product launches, Technology Demonstrations, Technical Exhibitions, Seminars, Webinars, Expert Lectures, Yoga and Meditation sessions, Health Camps, Cleanliness Drives, Competitions on Freedom Struggle and Movements, etc
Thrust is on following “Whole of Government Approach” and people’s participation i.e Janbhagidari in the events and activities in the week-long celebrations. Directions have been issued to ensure Covid-19 social distancing & hygiene protocols during the events and activities. Thrust is being given to leverage Information Technology and Virtual modes for organizing the events/activities.
Ministry of Power
NTPC invites expression of Interest from Energy Intensive Industries for setting up manufacturing facility within plant premises
The move will enable creation of Industrial Parks with in Power plants with unique advantages including readily available power supply, water supply and connectivity
Will help realising vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat by promoting Make in India
In a key initiative to promote Make in India and give boost to the Government’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power Generation Company and a PSU under Ministry of Power, has invited expression of Interest  from Energy Intensive Industries for setting up manufacturing units within its plant premises.
As per a statement issued by NTPC Ltd, it has invited the EOI from MSMEs and Indian Companies for setting up energy intensive manufacturing plants such as Bulk Chemicals - Ammonia, Urea, ChlorAlkali, Gypsum and Gypsum products, Geopolymer, Cooling & Heating Solutions, Aluminium, mineral processing , metallurgical and metal industries  in the Industrial parks to be developed on a pilot basis in the NTPC Thermal Power plants at Solapur , Kudgi  and Gadarwara .
These industrial parks will be subjected to requisite approvals from respective State and Central Government. NTPC will process these approvals based on responses received in the EOI.
The government has announced a slew of economic packages aimed to build self-reliant India by creating conducive investment environment and developing manufacturing hubs.
NTPC’s power plants across the country have evolved into economic centres with robust infrastructure system in place. Capitalising on the economic ecosystem developed over period of time, NTPC is exploring ideas to improve utilisation of land within its plant locations for enhancing economic activity and further contributing to economic growth of the country.
The initiative will create industrial parks within the power plants which, besides offering unique advantage of reliable electricity supply at competitive prices, will provide slew of other benefits of readily available infrastructural services like adequate water supply, accessibility through road and rail network, robust connectivity with internet lease lines, accessibility to township, medical facilities and local market along with various testing facilities which will be co-opted on need basis. As part of the plan, NTPC will enter into separate agreement with prospective entities for allotment of spaces.
With a total installed capacity of 62.9 GW, NTPC Group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations. The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, of which 5GW comprises of renewable energy.
Click here for detailed EOI invite
AYUSH
Use of Homoeopathy medicines in Covid-19 treatment discussed in Parliament
The Honourable Supreme Court has upheld the advisory of Ministry of AYUSH in its judgement dated 15.12.2020 and permitted use of homoeopathy medicine as add on to standard care in COVID-19 treatment. This was clarified by ShriKirenRijiju, Minister of State  of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Additional Charge of Minister of State  for the Ministry of AYUSH to the LokSabha today. The clarification was in reply to a question asked by Shri E.T. Mohammed Basheer, M.P. The Minister added that while Homoeopathy treatment is not to be given in standalone mode for COVID-19 treatment, the Ministry of AYUSH through an advisory issued in March 2020 and the ‘Guidelines for AYUSH practitioners for COVID-19’ allowed AYUSH interventions including homoeopathy as add on to standard care.
He also informed the House that the Ministry of AYUSH has taken many steps with the help of AYUSH systems of Medicine including Homeopathy for COVID-19 related treatment, and cited the Ministry’s advisory issued on 29.01.2020 on “how to protect oneself from COVID and how to stay healthy” .
The Minister also cited the important letter dated 06.03.2020 issued by the Ministry all Chief Secretaries of States/ Union territories conveying specific suggestions on augmentation of general immunity of people and about possible AYUSH interventions. The self-care guidelines issued by the Ministry on 31.03.2020 for preventive health measures and enhancing immunity with special reference to respiratory health  was also mentioned by him.
The reply furnished by the AYUSH Minister also brought out some other information of public interest in the matter of management of Guidelines for Registered Practitioners of respective system of AYUSH , made available in public domain for the benefit of registered AYUSH practitioners including Homoeopathy to help in the management of COVID 19 pandemic uniformly, also found a mention. Further, AYUSH Ministry through various research organizations and National Institutes under Ministry of AYUSH has conducted about 105 interdisciplinary clinical studies  at 136 centres in the country. Clinical research studies are conducted on AYUSH interventions as prophylactic interventions in high risk population targeting approximately 05 lakhs population and as an add-on to standard care to COVID-19 management.
Ministry of Law and Justice
Press Communique
In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, vide notification dated 13.05.2023, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Robin Phukan, Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court as a Judge of the Gauhati High Court, with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.